ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE) Shares Acquired by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE - Free Report) by 5.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 740,553 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 40,196 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.12% of ONEOK worth $73,478,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in OKE. Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in ONEOK by 11.4% during the first quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 11,505 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,142,000 after purchasing an additional 1,180 shares in the last quarter. Cinctive Capital Management LP purchased a new position in ONEOK during the fourth quarter valued at $19,909,000. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd lifted its holdings in ONEOK by 41.8% during the fourth quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd now owns 15,399 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,546,000 after purchasing an additional 4,538 shares in the last quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in ONEOK by 3.9% during the first quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 289,997 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $28,774,000 after purchasing an additional 10,957 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund lifted its holdings in ONEOK by 146.9% during the first quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund now owns 18,033 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,789,000 after purchasing an additional 10,728 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.13% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on OKE shares. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of ONEOK from $110.00 to $107.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of ONEOK from $101.00 to $91.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of ONEOK from $102.00 to $93.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of ONEOK from $111.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of ONEOK from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $103.14.

ONEOK Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of ONEOK stock traded up $0.79 on Tuesday, reaching $80.96. The company had a trading volume of 1,064,981 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,440,139. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $82.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $91.32. The firm has a market cap of $50.97 billion, a PE ratio of 15.81, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.93. ONEOK, Inc. has a 52-week low of $75.48 and a 52-week high of $118.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 0.67.

ONEOK (NYSE:OKE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.28 by ($0.24). ONEOK had a net margin of 12.15% and a return on equity of 15.58%. The business had revenue of $6.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.23 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.09 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that ONEOK, Inc. will post 5.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ONEOK Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 5th were given a $1.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 5th. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.09%. ONEOK's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 80.47%.

About ONEOK

ONEOK, Inc engages in gathering, processing, fractionation, storage, transportation, and marketing of natural gas and natural gas liquids (NGL) in the United States. It operates through four segments: Natural Gas Gathering and Processing, Natural Gas Liquids, Natural Gas Pipelines, and Refined Products and Crude.